A Glamorous Beachside Wedding Filled With Pampas Grass in Cabo San Lucas

Allison and Devon met through mutual friends in June 2012, when Devon was playing in the College World Series for the Florida State Seminoles in Allison’s hometown of Omaha. Allison and her friends spent the week hanging out with Devon and his teammates. “I even met his parents and siblings while they were in town,” she remembers. The two exchanged numbers but realized their lives were headed in different directions with Allison starting college and Devon focusing on getting drafted to the Major League. “After nine years of friendship, lots of FaceTime calls, and several visits to see each other, there was no denying that we were meant to spend the rest of our lives together,” Allison says.

On Devon’s 30th birthday in February 2021, the couple was preparing to move out of their first home the next day. Allison’s parents and brother traveled to West Palm Beach under the guise of helping them move. Devon’s and Allison’s moms planned a birthday lunch, and after the meal, Allison was told that one of their family friends docked their boat outside the restaurant for a birthday cruise. Instead, the couple walked to the dock where Devon got down on one knee to propose. “I started crying before he even knelt down,” Allison says, “Not only was it everything I ever dreamt of, we had our closest family and friends there to celebrate with us.

The couple planned a destination wedding at Hilton Los Cabos, a retreat Allison has been enjoying annually for years. “We knew we wanted our wedding week to feel like a vacation and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our family and friends and we knew the Hilton would check all those boxes,” Allison says. The couple worked with Lauren from Amy Abbott Events to pull off a "neutral glam" wedding for 230 guests. She made an extensive Powerpoint to share her vision with Lauren. “I knew I wanted lots of candles, pops of pampas grass, disco balls, and all neutral colors,” the bride says.

Read on to see how the details came together on the day planned by Amy Abbott Events and photographed by Photo by Julieta. 

Allison and Devon kicked off their wedding weekend in Cabo with a welcome party. Allison wore a sequin crochet dress with long sleeves from Retrofete, while Devon wore a white linen suit paired with Christian Louboutin high tops.

Allison got ready with her bridal party in comfortable robes at the hotel. She wore a form-fitting Berta Privée mermaid gown with a tulle train for the ceremony. Allison found her wedding gown on the very first dress appointment, and even selected another Berta Couture sparkly long sleeved gown to change into for the reception.

She wanted to feel like herself on her wedding day, so she went with a soft glam makeup look, beach waves, and a rounded french manicure. She finished her bridal look with a necklace, cuff bracelet, and earrings from Kendra Scott and Christian Louboutin shoes. Allison also wore Santal 33 from Le Labo as her wedding day fragrance. “It’s a scent Devon and I both wear,” she says, “It always makes me think of him.”

Devon wore a linen suit jacket with black tuxedo pants paired with a gold Rolex watch. His barber from West Palm Beach was a guest at the wedding, so he got a haircut just hours before the ceremony. He joined Allison for his first facial months before the wedding and continued to get them with her every few weeks leading up to the wedding day. He wore Dior Sauvage fragrance as the finishing touch.

Allison had a Matron of Honor, a Maid of Honor, and several bridesmaids The bridal party wore champagne colored BHLDN dresses in their preferred style paired with Kendra Scott earrings and A New Day gold block heels. Allison also gifted them sherpa slippers to change into when they were ready to hit the reception dance floor. The flower girl, Charlotte, wore a lace dress with long sleeves to mimic the bride’s reception gown.

Devon stood out from his groomsmen in his white jacket, as they all wore black suits from The Black Tux. The couple’s ring bearer, Blake, wore a black suit to match.

The couple’s ceremony took place on the beach, where a wooden aisle was covered with white rose petals. Allison’s vision of all-white florals with pops of pampas grass came to fruition with two large arrangements at the aisle entrance and the bold ceremony arch.

The couple’s ring bearer and flower girl stole the show during the ceremony, as Blake threw some of Charlotte’s flowers and Charlotte trailed behind him, picking up each petal behind him. “The look on Devon’s face as he watched them walk down the aisle together was so heartwarming,” Allison says.

One of Allison’s favorite memories from the wedding day? “Seeing Devon at the end of the aisle crying and smiling as I walked down with my dad,” she says, “It is a memory I will forever cherish.” Allison made her way down the aisle holding an all-white orchid bouquet as a violinist played Cristina Perri’s “A Thousand Years.”

The couple decided to write special vows and read them privately the morning of the wedding. “After discussing later on, we both discovered that we both bawled our eyes out reading what we wrote to one another,” Allison says. They shared personal stories about the love they had for their wedding party and close family members with their officiant in the weeks leading up to the wedding and asked her to incorporate that into the ceremony. “We wanted our loved ones to know how much they meant to us and how much it meant to us to have them there with us on our wedding day,” Allison says. The couple recessed back down the aisle to “Higher Love” by Kygo and Whitney Houston.

Allison and Devon stepped away with their photographer to take photos at golden hour. They spent some time on the beach and on the grounds of the hotel while their guests gathered for cocktail hour.

The couple’s cocktail hour took place on the beach, with a bar in an open-air pergola serving signature cocktails including spicy margaritas and mango margaritas. Guests found their table numbers on an acrylic sign that was decorated with white florals, pampas grass, pillar candles in glass hurricanes, and disco balls.

At the reception, the bar was embellished with neutral shades of pampas grass paired with silver disco balls. The couple’s sweetheart table was topped with white linens and paired with wicker round back chairs. The table held varying candles and arrangements of pampas grass, blush, and white flowers. A neon sign featuring the couple’s new shared last name hung behind the table to frame the newlyweds once they took their seats.

A mix of long tables and round tables were set up underneath string lights for the reception. The design created dimension by having both tall pampas grass arrangements on some tables and white candle and flower petal centerpieces on others. The couple hired DJ Alex to keep their guests on the dance floor and set him up at a booth that read “you, me, Cabo” and featured a dramatic pampas grass backdrop.

As the reception began, the couple’s wedding party entered as a group to “Bring Em Out” by T.I Then, with the group on the dance floor, Allison and Decon entered to Kanye West’s “Good Life”. The bride had changed into her second look: a lace gown with long sleeves and a plunging neckline. “We can honestly say the whole entrance and start to the reception set the tone for the rest of the night,” Allison says, “We had a full dance floor until the night ended. It was exactly what we dreamt of.” 

After the DJ invited guests to the dance floor to join the couple and their wedding party for a few more songs, the couple shared their first dance together to an acoustic version of Sam Smith’s “Latch.” Allison and her dad next swayed to “Wildflower” by Tom Petty and Devon danced with his mom to “A Song for Mama” by Boys II Men. Devon’s cousin, Joe Noto, also sang one of his country songs during the reception. He changed some of the lyrics to incorporate the couple’s names and the wedding itself. “Everyone had their phones out,” Allison remembers, “It was such a great surprise for us!”

After guests enjoyed dinner served at chef stations, the couple cut their almond red velvet wedding cake. The two-tiered ivory cake was embellished with a pampas floral arrangement.

For the honeymoon, the couple extended their stay in Cabo for a total of 16 days. They share, “We never wanted to leave!” Allison and Devon remind couples currently planning a wedding to be present during your wedding. “Your wedding weekend is something that only happens once,” Allison says, “Devon and I made it a point to soak up and enjoy everything from the second we started planning our wedding weekend with Lauren up until the last song ended at our reception. It all goes by so fast!”